Topic: c-Fos expression

The ability to form associations is one of the fundamental features of the brain. Pavlov's original work on classical conditioning employed CS that immediately preceded reinforcement. Here, using the model of context preexposure (Rudy, O'Reilly, 2001; Vorobieva et al., 2017), we studied how an engram of a distant past context can become a CS. Mice explored a new context, and then with different delays (from 30 minutes up to 30 days) received an immediate shock in the same environment. We showed that contextual memory engram can be conditioned at all tested intervals. We then used c-Fos express

CCN2 is a matricellular protein that plays important roles in connective tissue. CCN2 is also expressed in the nervous system; however, its role is still unclear. To explore CCN2 function in the brain, we generated forebrain-specific Ccn2 knockout (FbCcn2 KO) mice. In this study, we examined the behavioral phenotypes of FbCcn2KO mice. Male mice lacking CCN2 in the forebrain exhibited normal locomotion, sensorimotor gating, and social behaviors but signs of anxiety and elevated reactive aggression. We checked the c-fos expression in aggression-related brain regions following the resident-intrud

Emotional contagion, the capacity to internally simulate another's emotional state, plays a crucial role in modulating prosocial behavior. This includes rescue behaviors, wherein individuals in a safe context intervene to release a trapped conspecific from an aversive context. However, little is known about how the perceived emotional arousal of the distressed individual influences the helper's behavior and the underlying neuronal mechanisms driving prosociability. This study explores the involvement of the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC), associated with contextual learning, in emotionally charged